Greeks, Romans, and Gods read Last Olympian
by enchantress99
Summary: Basically the title. Takes place after Percy falls from the glacier. Romans, and Greeks alike are sent to Mount Olympus to read Last Olympian, along with some ghosts from the Underworld. Chaos will ensue, hilarity, or course, and much Percabeth.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everybody!**

**I'm not sure how this is going to go, but for now, you guys can tell me how it is.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, and the pdf belongs to Rick, as do all the characters.**

**Chapter One**

**Grover POV**

Annabeth leaned against Grover as she sighed with exhaustion.

"How long has it been since you've slept? Or eaten? Or taken care of yourself?" he asked, looking at the blonde. She yawned, her eyes dull and lifeless, her hair limp, her body malnourished.

"About three days." she said tiredly. Grover gaped at her.

"You are going to sleep now, or I am going to go to Clovis and put you to sleep for a week." he said, and Annabeth chuckled.

"Alright. I've just.. been.. looking... for... Percy..." she trailed off, her eyes shutting close as she drifted away to sleep. Grover put an arm around his second best friend. Percy's disappearance had taken its toll on both of them. Neither of them had eaten much, or gotten much sleep. As he was thinking of his friends, Grover and Annabeth disappeared in a bright flash of light, along with all the senior counselors of camp.

**Thalia POV**

Thalia sat on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the ocean. The view reminded her of when she, Percy, and Annabeth had traveled to retrieve Nico and Bianca. The daughter of Zeus drew her knees close to her chest, and leaned her chin on them.

"Where are you, Kelp Head?" she asked. Her thoughts were interrupted when she was engulfed in a bright flash of light.

**Nico POV**

Nico struggled as the two giants grasped him, and walked towards a large jar.

"Let me go!" he yelled, and the two laughed.

"Not on your life, son of Pluto." one of them said. Nico grunted with effort as he attempted to grab his sword, which had been taken. He needed to get back to Camp Jupiter before the battle. The giants opened the jar, and as they dropped Nico in there, he disappeared in a bright flash of light.

**Percy POV**

Percy fell off the side of the icy glacier, and his last view was of Hazel and Frank, staring at him with horror. As he fell, the son of Poseidon's last thoughts were not of his new Roman friends, but of the faces that flashed through his mind: A satyr with a goatee and a Rasta cap; a girl with black hair a electric blue eyes; Nico DiAngelo; and... Annabeth. He smiled.

"I wish I could see you again." he said as his body came into contact with the cold water. As he sunk, and the debri fell around him, a bright light engulfed him, Hazel and Frank, and the main leaders of Camp Jupiter.

**Normal POV**

All around America, someone disappeared. Sally and Paul Blofis disappeared from their Manhattan apartment, Tyson, Mrs. O'Leary, and Ella disappeared from California, and in the Underworld, specific ghosts disappeared. Where did they all go? Well, Mount Olympus, of course!

**Sorry for the short starter chapter!**

**The next ones will be a lot better, trust me.**

**Love,**

**Enchantress**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everybody!**

**Holy shiz-nuggets! 28 followers, and 21 favorites already, and this was only posted yesterday! You all are amazing.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, of course.**

**Greeks POV**

The Greeks appeared with a quiet "pop". Annabeth hadn't stirred from her sleep against Grover's shoulder. Her friends smiled at her, happy that she was finally resting. Then, they saw where they were, and most of the demigods groaned.

"Oh gods." Will Solace said, and Thalia sighed.

"Where are we?" Leo asked. Grover chuckled.

"Welcome to Mount Olympus, my friend. Meet the gods." he said, and Leo gaped.

"No way." Piper said.

"Hello, children." Hera said, smiling widely. Jason, Piper, and Leo all bowed, although they did so rather stiffly, but none of the others did.

"Did you bring us here?" Thalia spat, and Hera scowled at her.

"I did, my daughter." Zeus said, and Thalia raised her eyebrows.

"Very well then, Father." she said, and a flash of light startled them. Another group of teens were staring at them in shock, and they all stood in defensive positions. A scrawny blonde kid noticed the gods, and gasped.

"My lords and Ladies!" he said, throwing himself to the ground and bowing. Apollo moaned in anguish, dropping his head into his hands.

"Not him, again." he muttered. Hermes smirked at his half-brother.

"Sucks to be you." he said laughing. Jason stood, his eyes wide, and slowly walked over to the teens.

"Reyna? Gwen? Dakota?" he asked, and three of the teens looked at him in shock.

"Jason?" the three said, before engulfing him in a tight hug.

"Gods, I thought you were dead!" a girl with long, black hair said, squeezing him tightly. Jason laughed, and hugged the three of them. Two of them stepped away, but the dark-haired girl stayed close to him, making Piper look at her suspiciously. Two more flashes of light shook the room. One was with Sally, Paul, Tyson, Ella, Nico, and Mrs. O'Leary.

"HELLHOUND!" the blonde screamed, and the unfamiliar demigods pulled out weapons, even Jason. Nico rolled his eyes.

"Chill, scarecrow. She's fine." he said, and emphasized his point by petting her snout.

"Tyson, who's your friend?" Clarisse asked the Cyclopes.

"This is Ella. Ella is nice and pretty." Tyson said happily, and Ella flew around him before perching on his shoulder. Sally looked around, and smiled at her son's friends.

"Hello everyone." she said happily. The Greeks drew to her and Paul like a magnet. Grover gently moved Annabeth closer to her boyfriend's mother, not wanting to disturb her. A sob reached everyone's ears. A young, teenage girl with curly brown hair was leaning against a taller, Chinese boy, her eyes rimmed with red as she cried.

"Percy... Oh gods." she cried as the boy held her. The Greeks looked at her in shock. Clarisse glared at them, and walked to the two, her spear crackling in her hand.

"What happened to Percy?" she growled, grabbing the boy's shirt in her fist, and pointing her spear at his throat, her eyes hard and angry. Her friends gaped at her, surprised to see her so angry over Percy. The boy held his hands up in defense, fear in his eyes. A laugh made everyone, at least the Greeks, gasp.

"Nice to see you so worked up about little old me, Clarisse." Percy Jackson, alive and well, was leaning against his father's throne, his signature annoying smirk plastered on his face. Sally was the first to go to him.

"You are so grounded." she said, shaking her head at him. Percy just laughed, and hugged his mother tightly.

"I missed you, Mom." he whispered. The Greeks shook themselves from their stupor, and gained large grins across their faces.

"PERCY!" Travis and Connor Stoll yelled, tackling the black-haired boy to the ground. His other friends joined the dog pile, smothering him. Soon, they were a pile of laughing, hugging, slightly crying, Greek demigods.

"Oh... Gods... can't...breath." Percy's voice was barely audible from the bottom of the pile. The demigods released him, and Thalia threw her arms around him. Laughter was gone from her eyes, and she was holding back tears.

"You are the stupidest Kelp Head EVER!" Thalia said shakily. Percy chuckled, and hugged her tightly, burying his face in her shoulder, taking comfort from one of his sisters.

"I missed you so much, Pinecone Face." he said, and Thalia pulled away, and kissed his cheek. Jason glared at the two with jealousy. His sister had never kissed _him_ on the cheek before. Clarisse gave him a punch in the arm, but a slight smile as he let Thalia go with a final squeeze. Travis and Connor high-fived him, and he hugged the other head-counselors. Then, he noticed the two still sitting on the ground, and he grinned.

"Hey G-Man." he said, squatting next to his best friend, and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Perce." Grover said, smiling happily at him. Annabeth stirred slightly next to him. Percy gently took her from Grover, and set her on her feet, gently stroking her cheek, slowly waking her up.

"What? Grover?" Annabeth said groggily. Percy kissed her forehead. Her eyes flashed open, and she screamed, "OH MY GODS!" and threw herself onto her boyfriend, knocking them both to the ground. Percy laughed as he brushed Annabeth's hair out of his face.

"Hey Wise Girl." he said, looking into her grey eyes, filled with tears, and sparkling with a light that had been gone from them for eight months. She began to cry happily, and hugged him again, her arms wrapped around his waist tightly. Percy leaned into her embrace, breathing in her familiar scent. He placed a hand against her cheek, wiping away the tears, and kissed her gently. Annabeth pulled out her arms, and wrapped them around his neck, leaning into him. The Greeks looked on with happiness for their friends, while the other teens in the room looked with disgust.

"Jackson! Show some respect for Rome!" the blonde kid from before said, and Percy broke away from Annabeth, and glared at him.

"I'm not Roman, Octavian. I'm the son of Poseidon, GREEK god of the seas." he said, crossing his arms. The blonde, Octavian, made a face like a gulping fish. Then, Percy's eyes widened. He whirled around, and stared into the dark eyes of a certain son of Hades.

"Nico..." he said lowly. The black-haired boy slowly backed away.

"Percy... I swear I would have told you if I was able to. My father said to not tell either camp about the other." Nico said, holding his hands up in a pleading gesture. Percy looked at him, his sea-green eyes stormy. As he advanced upon the younger boy. Nico looked at him in fear, and backed into a wall. Percy stopped a few feet from him, and suddenly grinned.

"I completely understand, Neeks." he said, and Nico groaned. Percy hugged the boy he saw as a younger brother.

"You scared the shist out of me, Perce." Nico said as Percy released him. His cousin laughed.

"Wait... can we know why we're here?" the black-haired girl who hadn't left Jason's side asked. Zeus looked at the teens and mortals.

"To read of the battle against Kronos." he said simply.

**Please Review!**

**I love you all.**

**Until next time, my demigods!**

**Enchantress**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everybody!**

**You all are the greatest!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Greeks POV**

"What do you mean, the defeat of Kronos? How?" Annabeth asked from Percy's arms. Neither wanted to let go of the other at the moment, and were determined to make sure that they remained together. Zeus snapped his fingers, and a book appeared in her hands.

"Everyone take a seat, and we shall begin reading, "The Last Olympian"." Poseidon said from his throne, and couches and chairs appeared around the room,"But first we shall introduce the demigods." The demigods opposite the Greeks nodded to them.

"I am Reyna, praetor of Camp Jupiter, and daughter of Bellona." the dark haired girl at Jason's side said.

"I am Octavian, legacy of Apollo, and the augur of Camp Jupiter." Octavian said. Travis gaped at him.

"Did you just say legacy?" he asked, and the Roman nodded proudly. Annabeth gasped, along with Katie and Sally, and the boys stared at them, wide-eyed.

"Why is that surprising?" Reyna asked, and Percy looked at his family.

"Most of us don't last until past our twentieth birthdays." he said simply. There was an uncomfortable silence until another girl stepped forward.

"I'm Gwen, daughter of Apollo **(A/N- I'm making that up.)" **she said. A boy with red lips came forward.

"I'm Dakota, son of Bacchus." he said, holding a flask and continuously drinking from it.

"Is he drinking... wine?" Annabeth asked Percy and he shook his head, grinning.

"Kool-Aid, with extra sugar." he said. Annabeth giggled.

"Frank Zhang, son of Mars." the Chinese boy Clarisse had attacked before said. He glanced warily at the daughter of Ares, who was now making a face like a gulping fish.

"W-w-w-what?" she stammered, and the Stolls burst out laughing, joined by the others. Percy grinned at his friend.

"Oh this is perfect!" Will said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. The dark-haired girl looked up at them, and met eyes with Nico.

"I'm Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto." she said quietly. Zeus looked at his second brother, who had come along with the others.

"Hades..." he said warningly. Percy stepped forward before his uncle could do anything.

"Hazel is like Nico." he said simply. The Greeks understood, but the Romans looked confused. Aphrodite suddenly squealed.

"Before our demigods introduce themselves, I'm so giving them makeovers!" she said excitedly, and the Greeks could barely yelled in protest before they were engulfed in a bright flash of pink light.

**Romans POV**

When the flash ended, the other demigods had changed drastically. The girls had all gotten their hair done and new clothes. The girl with short black hair had been put into a black shirt that had a Barbie doll with an arrow through it that read "Death to Barbie", and she wore ripped up black skinny jeans and black combat boots. She had a silver circlet in her hair, and had black eyeliner around her electric blue eyes.

"My name is Thalia, daughter of Zeus, Lieutenant of Artemis." she said, crossing her arms and sitting on a couch across from the Romans. The girl who had been standing next to Jason had on a white tank top, and a blue sweater over it. She had on shorts, and brown cowboy boots. Her eyes were rimmed with shimmering gold eyeshadow, which brought out their different colors.

"I'm Piper Mclean, daughter of Aphrodite, and a charmspeaker." she said, sitting down on a loveseat near Thalia. Reyna noticed her staring at Jason, and she looked at her suspiciously. The girl who had attacked Frank was wearing a white shirt that said, "BAD" on it, and a black leather jacket on, along with ripped jeans and combat boots like Thalia's. Her long brown hair had been pulled into a ponytail.

"The name's Clarisse LaRue, daughter of Ares, and drakon slayer." she said, sitting in a chair. Frank's eyes widened. The second-to-last girl was wearing a pink flowered shirt, and light jeans, with gold sandals. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a pink headband, and there was pink eyeshadow around her bright green eyes.

"I'm Katie, daughter of Demeter." she said, smiling. A grinning brown-haired boy grinned at her.

"Dang Katie." he said, and she blushed.

"Shut up, Stoll." she replied, and sat down next to Piper. The final girl was the one who had kissed Percy, and she had changed the most. Before, she had looked malnourished, and she had dark circles under her eyes, and her hair was limp. Now, her blonde hair was bright, and curly. She was wearing an ivory, longsleeves shirt with an owl on it, and dark blue skinny jeans. She had black Converse on, and her hair was pulled back by a silver owl clip. She also had on sea-green eyeshadow, making her grey eyes sparkle.

"My name is Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, Hero of Olympus, and architect of Olympus." she said, and sat down beside Thalia, who smiled at her. The boys had on jeans, and each had grey converse on. The boy from before, and another who looked just like him stepped up.

""Travis and Connor Stoll, sons of Hermes." they said in unison. One had a blue sweatshirt on, and the other had a green one on. Both of them sat on the ground in front of Piper and Katie. A Latino boy who looked like an elf, who was wearing a white t-shirt and brown suspenders grinned at them all.

"Peace, Romans. Name's Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus and fire user." he said, and sat next to the Stolls.

"I'm Chris Rodriguez, son of Hermes." a boy with an orange t-shirt and black hair said. He sat down next to Clarisse in another chair. A boy with blonde hair and blue eyes went to sit down on another couch.

"I'm Will Solace, son of Apollo, and healer." he said. Another boy stepped forward, and the Romans gasped.

"DiAngelo?" Octavian asked, and Nico grinned at them. He was wearing a black shirt that had the word "Mythomagic" across it.

"Nico DiAngelo, son of Hades and Ghost King." he said, and sat down next to Thalia, ignoring their shocked looks. The second-to-last boy was wearing a shirt that said "Save the Forest" on it, with a picture of a tree. He also had goat legs.

"A faun?" Dakota asked, and the faun scowled.

"I'm a satyr, and my name is Grover Underwood, Lord of the Wild." the "satyr" said. He sat down in a chair next to the couch that had Nico, Thalia, and Annabeth on it. The last, of course, was Percy. He was wearing a dark blue muscle shirt, and a leather jacket.

"I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, Hero of Olympus, slayer of Medusa, the Minotaur, and a whole bunch of other uglies, defeater of Kronos, holder of the sky, defeater of the gorgons, drinker of the gorgon's blood, defeater of Phineas, and a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember." Percy said, smirking, before he went to sit next to Annabeth and putting his arm around her. Nico looked at him.

"Bathed in the River Styx." he said. Thalia looked at him next.

"Finder of the Ophiotaurus." she stated. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Defeated Ares in battle, discovered Hades' helm, you found Hermes' caduceus, found the golden dragon, and finderof Ares' chariot." she said. The Romans gaped at the son of Poseidon across from them.

"You forgot decliner of immortality." Grover spoke up from the chair next to the four.

"What?" Reyna sputtered in disbelief. The dark-haired woman who looked like Percy, and who sat next to another man on a loveseat looked at him.

"You are not leaving the house until you are twenty." she said, then, turned to the Romans, "I'm Percy's mom. You kids can call me Sally. This is my husband, Paul." Percy chuckled. He was about to speak before a girl with bright red hair, and paint-splattered jeans stepped forward.

"Before we go, I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare, mortal, and oracle of Delphi." she said, and Percy stood and hugged her. Octavian snorted.

"You? An oracle? Oh please. I am gifted with the sight of Apollo." he said, and the girl, Rachel, cocked her head at him.

"Not with those clothes you aren't." she replied, and the Greeks laughed. She sat on the other side of the couch in a chair near Percy.

"Can we just start the book and get this over with? I want to explore Olympus with a beautiful girl **(A/N- Demigod Diaries!)**." he said, and Annabeth blushed. Suddenly, she looked at him, her eyes wide.

"Did you say drinker of gorgon's blood?" she asked, low and dangerous. Percy bit his lip, looking down sheepishly.

"I needed to get my memories back." he said quietly, and Annabeth sighed heavily.

"If you had drunk the wrong one, Seaweed Brain..." she trailed off, and Percy pulled her back into his arms, kissing her cheek.

"I know, Wise Girl." he muttered.

"Who would like to begin?" Zeus asked, and Hazel raised her hand.

"I will, my lord." she said, and the book appeared in her hands. She opened it to the first page, _"I Go Sailing With Explosives."_

**Please review!**

**You all are the greatest.**

**See you soon my demigods!**

**Enchantress**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everybody!**

**I have a request for all my readers, and for those who review: Please make sure that your information is correct before you flame me. That's all! If your info is correct, flame me all you want.**

**You all are the greatest!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Neutral POV**

_"I go Cruising with Explosives."_ Hazel began, then looked at Percy, "Wait, what?" Percy shrugged.

"I didn't even know these existed, so don't blame me." he said.

"The titles are going to get worse, knowing Percy." Thalia said, rolling her eyes.

"Aww, you love me, Thals." Percy replied with a smirk, and Thalia smiled back, shaking her head. Jason felt a bubble of jealousy erupt in his chest.

**The end of the world started when a pegasus landed on the hood of my car. ****Up until then, I was having a great afternoon. Technically I ****wasn't supposed to be driving because I wouldn't be sixteen for another week,****but my mom and my stepdad, Paul, took my friend ****Rachel and me to this private stretch of beach on the South Shore, ****and Paul let us borrow his Prius for a short spin. **

"That wasn't very responsible of him." Athena remarked, and Paul grinned.

"I trust him." he said, and Percy smiled at his stepfather.

**Now, I know you're thinking, Wow, that was really ****irresponsible of him,blah,blah,blah, but Paul knows me pretty well. **

The Greeks laughed at the sight of Annabeth's mother seeming embarrassed to have quoted a book.

**He's seen me slice up demons and leap out of exploding school ****buildings, so he probably figured taking a car a few hundred yards ****wasn't exactly the most dangerous thing I'd ever done. ****Anyway, Rachel and I were driving along. It was hot August ****day. Rachel's red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore a ****white blouse over her swimsuit. I'd never seen before, and she ****looked like a million golden drachmas.**

"Thanks Percy!" Rachel said from her seat, and Annabeth raised an eyebrow at him. He smirked at his girlfriend.

"There are no words to describe how beautiful you are, Wise Girl." Percy said, kissing her blushing cheek. Their friends snickered, while Aphrodite squealed with delight.

"I LOVE THEM!" she screamed, and Ares looked at her, annoyed.

"Yeah, we know. Can you fangirl without killing my eardrums?" he asked. The Romans seemed surprised at the way that their counterparts and the gods were acting. They were nothing like they had expected.

**"Oh, pull up right there!" she told me ****We parked on a ridge overlooking the Atlantic. The sea is ****always one of my favorite places, but today it was specially nice and glittery ****green, smooth as glass, as though my dad was keeping it calm ****just for dad,by the way, is Poseidon. He can do stuff like that. **

**"So." Rachel smiled at me. " About that invitation."**

**"Oh . . . right." I tried to sound excited. I mean, she'd asked me ****to her family's vacation house on St. Thomas for three days. I didn't ****get a lot of offers like that. My family's idea of a fancy vacation was ****a weekend in a rundown cabin on Long Island with some movie ****rental and a couple of frozen pizzas, and here Rachel's folks were ****willing to let me tag along to the Caribbean.**

"I like our idea better." Percy said. Annabeth shivered.

"I really don't like that cabin. Filled with spiders." she said. Thalia rolled her eyes at her friend.

"Oh please, I bet that Kelp Head would flush the cabin out and redecorate it if that would get you in there." she said, and Percy nodded proudly.

"LIke I did with the stables." he said, and Annabeth, Grover, Tyson, and Nico laughed, while the others looked on in confusion.

"Did we miss something?" Travis asked his brother, who shrugged. Reyna held her hands up.

"Hold on. Who are you?" she asked Tyson, who grinned.

"I am Tyson! Son of Poseidon, general of the Cyclopes army, and Percy's little brother!" he said happily, and Percy grinned.

"He has a Cyclopes for a brother?" Jason asked incredulously from his spot next to Reyna. Percy nodded.

"He's better than my other brother." Percy said, and Poseidon looked at him sadly.

**Besides, I seriously needed a vacation. This summer had been ****the hardest of my life. The idea of taking a break even for a few days ****was really tempting. ****Still, something big was suppose to go down any day now. I ****was "on call" for a mission. Even worse, next week was my ****birthday. There was this prophecy that said when I turned sixteen, ****bad things would happen.**

"Yeah. You and Annie would get together." Travis said, smirking. Percy raised his eyebrows.

"How's it going in the strawberry fields, Travis?" he asked simply, and the Greeks, minus Travis, who was blushing heavily, and Katie, who looked around confused, were laughing so hard that Nico, Connor, and Thalia fell out of their chairs laughing.

"What's so special about the strawberry fields?" Jason asked, angry that he didn't know an inside joke from Camp Half-Blood. Percy took a deep breath.

"Nothing. Read on, Hazel." he said, chuckling. Hazel did, smiling at her friend. It was good to see him so happy now.

**"Percy," she said, "I know the timing is bad. But it's always bad ****for you, right?" ****She had a point.**

**"I really want to go," I promised. "It's just-" ****"The war." ****I nodded. I didn't like talking about it, but Rachel knew. ****Unlike most mortals, she could see through the Mist- the magic veil ****that distorts human vision. She'd seen monsters. She'd met some of ****the other demigods who were fighting the Titans and their allies. ****She'd even been there last summer when the chopped-up Lord ****Kronos rose out of his coffin in a terrible new form, and she'd earn ****my permanent respect by nailing him in the eye with a blue plastic ****hairbrush. **

"WHAT?" Octavian screeched. Rachel grinned and crossed her arms.

"No one is able to stand against my hair brushes." she said, pulling one from her pocket. Annabeth smirked.

"Probably because they're so hard." she said, and Rachel laughed.

"What kind of oracle is she?" Gwen asked, and Jason shrugged.

"I have no clue. Normally she's more... reserved." he said, as Hazel continued.

**She put her hand on my arm. "Just think about it, okay? We ****don't leave for a couple of da****ys. My dad . . ." Her voice faltered.**

**"Is he giving you a hard time?" I asked, and she shook her head in disgust. "He's trying to be nice to me, ****which is almost worse. He wants me to go to Clarion Ladies ****Academy in the fall."**

**"The school where your mom went?"**

**"It's a stupid finishing school for society girls, all the way in ****New Hampshire. Can you see me in finishing school?" ****I admitted the idea sounded pretty dumb. Rachel was into urban ****art projects and feeding the homeless and going to protest rallies to ****"Save the Endangered Yellow-bellied Sapsucker" and stuff like that. ****I'd never even seen her wear a dress. It was hard to imagine her ****learning to be a socialite.**

Leo laughed, "Piper, can you do that one day?" Piper and the others laughed, even Rachel.

"Possibly." she said, smiling evilly at Rachel. Jason scowled at seeing the Greeks having so much fun without him. Just because Percy Jackson was there, didn't mean that they had to follow his every move.

**She sighed. "He thinks if he does a bunch of nice stuff for me, ****I'll feel guilty and give in."**

**"Which is why he agreed to let me come with you guys on ****vacation?"**

**"Yes . . . but Percy, you'd be doing me a huge favor. It would be ****so much better if you were with us. Besides, there's something I ****want to talk-" She stopped abruptly.**

**"Something you want to talk about?" I asked. "You mean . . . so ****serious we'd have to go to St. Thomas to talk about it?"**

**She pursed her lips. "Look just forget it for now. Let's pretend ****we're a couple for normal people. We're out for a drive, and we're ****watching the ocean, and it's nice to be together." ****I could tell something was bothering her, but she put on a brave ****smile. The sunlight made her hair look like fire. ****We'd spent a lot of time together this summer. I hadn't exactly ****planned it that way, but the more serious things got at camp, the ****more I found myself needing to call up Rachel and get away, just for ****some breathing room. I needed to remind myself that the mortal ****world was still out there, away from all the monsters using me as ****their personal punching bags.**

**"Okay," I said. "Just normal afternoon and two normal people."**

**She nodded. "And so . . . hypothetically, if these two people ****liked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the ****girl, huh?"**

**"Oh . . ." I felt like one of Apollo's sacred cows- slow, dumb, ****and bright red. " Um . . ."**

"I TAKE OFFENSE TO THAT!" Apollo shouted, pointing at Percy, who grinned apologetically. Octavian knelt to the ground.

"Pardon his ignorance, my lord. The Greeks are a barbaric people who do not respect the gods." he said. Apollo looked at him strangely.

"Dude, I was joking. Gosh you Romans need to lighten up." he said, sitting back down. Percy glared at the augur.

"You talk about respect? At least we actually have a temple for Poseidon, not just a tool shed! At least no one is separated by skills!" he said angrily. Annabeth took his hand, and squeezed it. Hazel continued, a bit frightened by Percy's outburst.

**I can't pretend I hadn't thought about Rachel. She was so much ****easier to be around than . . . well, than some other girls I knew. **

"Some other girls, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked innocently. Thalia looked at her cousin, the same way Annabeth was. Percy looked over at Nico.

"Help." he said, and his cousin laughed.

"You're on your own, Kelpie." the son of Hades said. Percy smiled.

"I only meant that she was easier to read, and that I..." he trailed off, unable to think of an excuse. Annabeth and Thalia laughed.

"Joking, Perce." Thalia said, shaking her head fondly.

**I ****didn't have to work hard, or watch what I said, or rack my brain ****trying to figure out what she was thinking. Rachel didn't hide much. ****She let you know how she felt. ****I'm not sure that I would have done next- but I was so ****distracted, I didn't notice the huge black form swooping down from ****the sky until four hooves landed on the hood of the Priuis with a ****WUMP-WUMP-CRUNCH!**

Rachel gasped.

"Is this when..." she asked Percy, who nodded. Rachel shook her head, groaning as she brought a hand to cover her face.

**'Hey,boss', a voice in my head said. 'Nice car!' ****Blackjack the pegasus was an old friend of mine, so I tried not ****to get too annoyed by the craters he'd just put on the hood; but I ****didn't think my stepdad would be a real stoked.**

**"Blackjack," I sighed. "What are you-" ****Then I saw who was riding on his back, and I knew my day was ****about to get more complicated.**

**"'Sup, Percy." ****Charles Beckendorf, senior counselor for the Hephaestus cabin, ****would make most monsters cry for their mommies. **

Leo looked at the Greeks who had known the son of Hephaestus. Katie was holding in tears, while the Stoll brothers were looking at their hands in sadness. Will was shaking his head, upset. Tyson was patting Mrs. O'Leary, a tear leaking from his eyes. Clarisse was attempting to look strong, put pain was evident in her eyes. Chris mirrored his half-brothers, and he had an arm around his girlfriend. Grover had a few tears coming out of his eyes, along with Rachel. The four on the couch were the worst. Nico had his arm around Thalia, the latter with tears streaming from her eyes. Annabeth was shaking with sobs, and Percy had adjusted himself so that she was curled in his lap, her face hidden in his shirt. The son of Poseidon was also crying, and his face was pained.

"Is he the one?" he asked, and Percy nodded sadly, taking a deep breath. Piper gasped softly, and put an arm around Leo, who had a look of sadness on his face for his half-brother.

"Oh my gods." she whispered, remembering the story from her cabin, and his girlfriend. Percy motioned for Hazel to keep reading. Hephaestus also had tears in his eyes, remembering his son.

**He was huge, ****with ripped muscles from working on the forges every summer, two ****years older than me, and one of the camp's best armorsmiths. He ****made some seriously ingenious mechanical stuff. A month before, ****he'd rigged a Greek firebomb in the bathroom of a tour bus that was ****carrying a bunch of monsters across country. The explosion took out ****a whole legion of Krono's evil meanies as soon as the first harpy went flush. ****Beckendorf was dressed for combat. He wore bronze ****breastplate and war helm with black camo pants and a sword ****strapped to his side. His explosives bag was slung over his shoulder. **

"Dang. He had to have had a girlfriend." Dakota sad, oblivious to the sadness in the room, at least, until a sob reached their ears. Surprisingly, this came from the daughter of Ares, who had put her face in her hands, and was crying. Chris rubbed her back comfortingly.

**"Time?" I asked ****He nodded grimly. ****A clump formed in my throat. I'd known this was coming. We'd ****been planning it for weeks, but I'd half hoped it would never happen. **

**Rachel looked up at Beckendorf. "Hi."**

**"Oh, hey. You must be Rachel. Percy's told me . . . uh, I mean ****he mentioned you."**

**Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Really? Good." She glanced at ****Blackjack, who was clopping his hooves against the hood of the ****Prius. "So, I guess you guys have to go save the world now."**

**"Pretty much," Beckendorf agreed. ****I looked at Rachel helplessly. "Would you tell my mom-"**

**"I'll tell her. I'm sure she's used to it. And I'll explain to Paul ****about the hood."**

Paul chuckled dryly.

"My car's the least of your worries, Percy." he said, and his step-son smiled at him gratefully.

**I nodded my thanks. I figured this might be the last time Paul ****loaned me his car.**

**"Good luck." Rachel kissed me before I could even react. ****"Now, get going, half-blood. Go kill some monsters for me." ****My last view of her was sitting in the shotgun seat of the Prius, ****her arms crossed, watching as Blackjack circled higher and higher, ****carrying Beckendorf and me into the sky. I wondered what Rachel ****wanted to talk to me about, and whether I'd live long enough to find ****out. **

**"So," Beckendorf said, "I'm guessing you don't want me to ****mention that little scene to Annabeth."**

Annabeth gave her boyfriend a shaky smile.

"Well, now I have blackmail for you when we argue." she said, and Percy hugged her tightly.

"I would never argue with you, Wise Girl." he said, kissing her cheek.

**"Oh, gods," I muttered. "Don't even think about it." ****Beckendorf chuckled, and together we soared out over the Atlantic. ****It was almost dark by the time we spotted our target. The Princess ****Andromeda glowed on the horizon- a huge cruise ship lit up yellow ****and white. From a distance, you'd think it was just a party ship, not ****the headquarters for the Titan lord. Then as you got closer, you ****might notice the giant figurehead- a dark-haired maiden in a Greek ****chiton, wrapped in chains with a look of horror on her face, as if she ****could smell the stench of all the monsters she was being forced to ****carry. ****Seeing the ship again twisted my gut into knots. I'd almost died ****twice on the Princess Andromeda. Now it was heading straight for ****New York.**

**"You know what to do?" Beckendorf yelled over the wind. ****I nodded. We'd done dry runs at the dockyards in New Jersey, ****using abandoned ships as our targets. I knew how little time we ****would have. But I also knew this was our best chance to end Krono's ****invasion before it ever started.**

**"Blackjack," I said, "set us down on the lowest stern deck."**

**'Gotcha,boss', he said. 'Man, I hate seeing that boat.' ****Three years ago, Blackjack had been enslaved on the Princess ****Andromeda until he finally escaped with a little help from my friends ****and me. I figured he'd rather have his mane braided like My Little ****Pony than be back here again.**

**"Don't wait for us," I told him.**

**'But, boss-'**

**"Trust me," I said. "We'll get out ourselves." **

"I should've told him to wait." Percy said, and Leo looked at him. He knew when someone was blaming themselves.

"Percy, it's not your fault. You couldn't have anticipated anything that happened." Leo said, and Percy gave him a small smile. Jason felt another pang of jealousy.

**Blackjack folded his wings and plummeted toward the boat likea black comet. The wind whistled in my ears. I saw monsters ****patrolling the upper decks of the ship- dracaenae snake-woman, ****hellhounds, giants, and the humanoid seal-demons known as ****telkhines- but we zipped by so fast, none of them raised the alarm. ****We shot down the stern of the boat, and Blackjack spread his wings, ****lightly coming to a landing on the lowest deck. I climbed off, feeling ****queasy.**

**'Good luck,boss', Blackjack said. 'Don't let 'em turn you into ****horse meat!' ****With that, my old friend flew off into the night. I took my pen ****out of my pocket and uncapped it, and Riptide sprang to full size three ****feet of deadly celestial bronze glowing in the dusk. ****Beckendorf pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. I thought ****it was a map or something. Then I realized it was a photograph. He ****stared at it in the dim light- the smiling face of Silena Beauregard, ****daughter of Aphrodite. **

Aphrodite let out a small cry. Clarisse took a deep breath, and smiled at her boyfriend.

"She's a hero." she said, and Piper looked at the daughter of Ares.

"So she's the one who..." she trailed off, and Clarisse nodded.

**They'd started going out last summer, after ****years of the rest of us saying "Duh, you guys like each other!" Even ****with all the dangerous missions, Beckendorf had been happier this ****summer than I'd ever seen him. **

**"We'd make it back to camp," I promised. ****For a second I saw worry in his eyes. Then he put on his old ****confident smile.**

**"You bet," he said. "Let's go blow Kronos back into a million of ****pieces." ****Beckendorf led the way. We followed a narrow corridor to the ****service stairwell, just like we'd practiced, but we froze when we ****heard noises above us.**

**"I don't care what your noses says!" snarled a half-human, half-dog ****voice- a telkhine. "The last time you smelled half-blood, it turned out to be a meatloaf sandwich!"**

**"Meat loaf sandwiches are good!" a second voice snarled. "But ****this is half-blood scent, I swear. They are on board!"**

**"Bah, your brain isn't on board!" ****They continued to argue, and Beckendorf pointed downstairs. ****We descended as quietly as we could. Two floors down, the voices ****of the telkhines started to fade. ****Finally, we came to a metal hatch. Beckendorf mouthed the ****words "engine room." ****It was locked, but Beckendorf pulled some chain cutters out of ****his bag and split the bolt like it was made of butter. ****Inside, a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churned ****and hummed. Pressure gauges and computer terminals lined the ****opposite wall. A telkhine was hunched over a console, but he was so ****involved with his work, he didn't notice us. He was about five feet ****tall, with slick black seal fur and stubby little feet. He had the head ****of a Doberman, but his clawed hands were almost human. He ****growled and muttered as he tapped on his keyboard. Maybe he was ****messaging his friends on . ****I stepped forward, and he tensed, probably smelling something ****wrong. He leaped sideways toward a big red alarm button, but I ****blocked his path. He hissed and lunged at me, but one slice of ****Riptide, and he exploded into dust.**

**"One down," Beckendorf said. " About five thousand to go." ****He tossed me a jar of thick green liquid- Greek fire, one of the most ****dangerous magical substances in the world. ****The he threw me another essential tool of the demigod heros: duct ****tape.**

"Saved me bunch of times on the run." Leo commented, grinning. Percy nodded seriously.

"Duct tape is the best thing to ever be created." he said, and Sally shook her head at her son.

**"Slap that one on the console," he said. "I'll get the turbines." ****We went to work. The room was hot and humid, and in no time ****we were drenched in boat kept chugging along. Being the son of Poseidon and ****all, I have perfect bearings at sea. Don't ask me how, but I could tell we**** were at 40.l9° North, 7I.90° West, making eighteen knots, which ****meant the ship would arrive in New York Harbor by dawn. This ****would be our only chance to stop it. ****I had just attached a second jar of Greek fire to the control ****panels when I heard the pounding of feet on metal steps- so many ****creatures coming down the stairwell I could hear them over the ****engines. Not a good sign.**

**I locked eyes with Beckendorf. "How much longer?"**

**"Too long." He tapped his watch, which was our remote control ****detonator. "I still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges. ****Ten more minutes at least." ****Judging from the sound of the footsteps, we had about ten ****seconds.**

**"I'll distract them," I said. "Meet you at the rendezvous point."**

**"Percy-"**

**"Wish me luck." ****He looked like he wanted to argue. The whole idea had been to ****get in and out without being spotted. But we were going to have to ****improvise.**

**"Good luck," he said. ****I charged out the door. ****A half dozen telkhines were tromping down the stairs. I cut through ****them with Riptide faster than they could yelp. I kept climbing- past ****another telkhine, who was so started he dropped his Lil' Demons ****lunch box. I left him alive- partly because his lunch box was cool, ****partly so he could raise the alarm and hopefully get his friends to ****follow me rather than head towards the engine room I burst through a door onto deck six and kept running. I'm sure ****the carpeted hall had once been very plush, but over the last three ****years of monster occupation the wallpaper, carpet, and stateroom had ****been clawed up and slimed so it looked like the inside of a dragon's ****throat (and yes, unfortunately, I speak from experience.) ****Back on my first visit to the Princess Andromeda,my old enemy ****Luke had kept some dazed tourist on board for show, shrouded in ****Mist so they didn't realize they were on a monster-infested ship. ****Now that I didn't see any sign of tourists. I hated to think what had ****happened to them, but I kind of doubted they'd been allowed to go ****home with their bingo winnings. ****I reached the promenade, a big shopping mall that took up the ****whole middle of the ship, and I stopped cold. In the middle of the ****courtyard stood a fountain. And in the fountain squatted a giant crab. ****I'm not talking "giant" like $7.99 all-you-can-eat Alaskan king ****crab. I'm talking giant like bigger than the fountain. **

"That's a Hades lot of crab." Leo said, and Percy nodded. Jason raised his eyebrows.

"How'd you escape?" he asked, and the son of Poseidon grinned.

"Quick thinking and a crabbing trip." he said. Many in the room looked confused, except for Sally and Paul.

"Came in handy, did it?" Sally asked, and Percy nodded again.

**The monster ****rose ten feet out of the water. It's shell was mottled blue and green, ****its pincers longer than my body. ****If you've ever seen a crab's mouth, all foamy and gross with ****whiskers and snapping bits, you can imagine this one didn't look any ****better blown up to billboard size. Its beady black eyes glared at ****me,and I could see intelligence in them- and hate. The fact that I was ****the son of the sea god was not going to win me any points with Mr. ****Crabby.**

**"FFFFfffffff," it hissed, sea foam dripping from its mouth. ****The smell coming off it was like garbage can full of fish sticks that ****had been sitting in the sun all week.**

Most of the girls gagged, including Gwen, Reyna, and Hazel.

"Thanks for that mental smell, Kelp Head." Thalia said, holding her stomach. Aphrodite looked slightly green.

"Disgusting." she said.

**Alarms blared. Soon I was going to have lots of company and I ****had to keep moving.**

**"Hey, crabby." I inched around the edge of the courtyard. "I'm ****just gonna scoot around you so-"The crab moved with amazing speed. It scuttled out of the ****fountain and came straight at me, pincers snapping. I dove into a gift ****shop, plowing through a rack if T-shirts. A crab pincer smashed the ****glass walls to pieces and raked across the room. I dashed back ****outside, breathing heavily, but Mr. Crabby turned and followed.**

**"There!" a voice said from a balcony about me.**

**"Intruder!" ****If I'd wanted to create a distraction, I'd succeeded, but this was ****not where I wanted to fight. If I got pinned down in the center of the ****ship, I was crab chow. ****The demonic crustacean lunged at me. I sliced with Riptide, ****taking off the tip of its claw. It hissed and foamed, but didn't seem ****very hurt. ****I tried to remember anything from the old stories that might ****help with this thing. Annabeth had told me about a monster crab: something ****about Hercules crushing it under his big foot? That ****wasn't going to work here. This crab was slightly bigger than my ****Reeboks. **

Jason rolled his eyes.

"I know you've done a lot of things Hercules did, but I doubt you can defeat the crab. Hercules was the greatest hero in history." he said, and Percy's eyes grew stormy, along with Thalia, Grover, Nico, and Annabeth's. Artemis glared at the son of Jupiter.

"Hercules was a jerk, who only cared about himself and becoming popular. He's not as great as you think he is." surprisingly, it was Thalia who said this. Jason looked at his sister, confused.

"We'll explain later." Annabeth said as Hazel continued.

**Then a weird thought occurred to me. Last Christmas, my mom ****and I had brought Paul Blofis to our old cabin at Montauk, where ****we'd been going forever. Paul had taken me crabbing, and when he'd ****brought up a net full of the things, he'd shown me how crabs have a ****chink in their armor, right in the middle of their ugly bellies. ****The only problem was getting to the ugly belly. ****I glanced at the fountain, then at the marble floor, already slick ****from scuttling crab tracks. I held out my hand, concentrating on the ****water, and the fountain exploded. Water sprayed everywhere, three ****stories high,dousing the balconies and the elevators and the windows ****of the shops. The crab didn't care. It loved water. It came at me ****sideways, snapping and hissing, and I ran straight at it, screaming, ****"AHHHHHHH!"**

**Just before we collided, I hit the ground baseball-style and slid ****on the wet marble floor straight under the creature. It was like ****sliding under a seven-ton armored vehicle. All the crab had to do ****was sit and squash me, but before it realized what I was going on, I ****jabbed Riptide into the chink in its armor, let go of the hilt, and ****pushed myself out the backside. ****The monster shuddered and hissed. Its eyes dissolved. Its shell ****turned bright red as its insides evaporated. The empty shell clattered ****to the floor in a massive heap.**

"Well done, Percy!" Poseidon said proudly, and Percy grinned at his father.

**I didn't have time to admire my handiwork. I ran for the nearest ****stairs while all around me monsters and demigods shouted orders ****and strapped on their weapons. I was empty-handed. Riptide, being ****magic, would appear in my pocket sooner or later, but for now it was ****stuck somewhere under the wreckage of the crab,and I had no time ****to retrieve it. ****In the elevator foyer on deck eight, a couple of dracaenae ****slithered across my path. From the waist up, they were woman with ****green scaly skin,yellow eyes, and forked tongues. From the waist ****down, they had double snake trunks instead of legs. They held spears ****and weighted nets, and I knew from experience they could use them.**

**"What is thisss?" one said. "A prize for Kronoss!"**

"Never!" Percy yelled, and he struck a ridiculous pose, making Annabeth, Thalia, Grover, and Nico's faces turn red from not laughing.

**I wasn't in the mood to play break-the-snake, but in front of me ****was a stand with a model of the ship, like a YOU ARE HERE ****display. I ripped the model off the pedestal and hurled it at the first ****dracaena. The boat smacked her in the face and she went down with ****the ship. **

"Bad pun, Percy." Connor said, smirking. Percy glared half-heartedly at the son of Hermes.

**I jumped over her, grabbed her friend's spear, and swung ****her around. She slammed into the elevator, and I kept running ****toward the front of the ship. **

**"Get him!" she screamed. ****Hellhounds bayed. An arrow from somewhere whizzed past my ****face and impaled itself in the mahogany-paneled wall of the stairwell.**

Annabeth grinned, making Percy and Thalia lean away in horror.

"Oh gods." Travis said, and jumped behind the couch he was sitting on, followed by his brother. Nico ducked down, and Percy and Thalia got off the couch and hid behind Jason's seat.

"Save yourselves!" The two shouted, and the newer Greeks, and the Romans looked at them, confused.

"What's wrong?" Hazel asked, amused. Athena smiled, knowing what was going to happen.

"THAT IS MAHOGANY!" Annabeth screamed, and the Greeks who knew her cringed.

"Run! Fangirl Annabeth is on the loose!" Nico yelled, and suddenly shadow traveled to the far side of the room. Annabeth laughed, and Percy and Thalia got up, and walked back to their seats, Percy putting his arm around his girlfriend.

"You read too much." he commented, and Annabeth stuck her tongue out at him. Hazel giggled, and continued.

**I didn't care- as long as I got the monsters away from the engine ****room and gave Beckendorf more time. ****As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down. ****He looked like he'd just woken up from a nap. His armor was half ****on. **

**He drew his sword and yelled, "Kronos!" but he sounded more ****scared than angry. He couldn't have been more than twelve- about ****the same age I was when I'd first arrived at Camp Half-Blood. ****That thought depressed me. This kid was getting brain-washed, trained ****to hate the gods and lash out because he'd been born half ****Olympian. Kronos was using him, and yet the kid thought I was his ****enemy. ****No way was I going to hurt him. I didn't need a weapon for this. ****I stepped inside his strike and grabbed his wrist, slamming it against ****the wall. His sword clattered out of his hand. ****Then I did something I hadn't planned on. It was probably ****stupid. It definitely jeopardized our mission, but I couldn't help it.**

**"If you want to live," I told him, "get off this ship now. Tell the ****other demigods." Then I shoved him down the stairs and sent him ****tumbling to the next door. ****I kept climbing. ****Bad memories: a hallway ran past the cafeteria. Annabeth, my ****half brother Tyson, and I had sneaked through here three years ago ****on my first visit.**

Annabeth snickered.

"Do you two remember the hellhound that was scarfing down eggs, and the tourists didn't notice anything?" she asked, and Percy and TYson both laughed.

"That was awesome." Tyson said.

**I burst outside onto the main deck. Off the port bow, the sky ****was darkening from purple to black. A swimming pool glowed ****between two glass towers with more balconies and restaurant decks. ****The whole upper ship seemed eerily deserted. ****All I had to do was cross to the other side. Then I could take ****the staircase down to the helipad- our emergency rendezvous point. ****With any luck, Beckendorf would meet me there. We'd jump into the sea. My water powers would protect us both, and we'd detonate the ****charges from a quarter mile away. ****I was halfway across the deck when the sound of a voice made ****me freeze. **

**"You're late, Percy." ****Luke stood on the balcony above me, a smile on his scarred ****face. He wore jeans, a white T-shirt, and flip-flops, like he was just a ****normal college guy, but his eyes told the truth. They were solid gold.**

**"We've been expecting you for days." At first he sounded ****normal, like Luke. But then his face twitched. A shudder passed ****through his body as though he'd just drunk something really nasty. ****His voice became heavier, ancient,and powerful- the voice of the ****Titan lord Kronos. The words scraped down my spine like a knife ****blade. "Come, bow before me."**

Thalia glared daggers at the book in Hazel's hands, along with every other old Camp Half-Blood member who had known Luke.

**"Yeah, that'll happen," I muttered. ****Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimming ****pool as if they'd been waiting for a cue. Each was eight feet tall with ****tattooed arms, leather armor, and spiked clubs. Demigod archers ****appeared on the roof above Luke. Two hellhounds leaped down from ****the opposite balcony and snarled at me. Within seconds I was ****surrounded. A trap: there's no way they could've gotten into position ****so face unless they'd known I was coming. ****I looked up at Luke, and anger boiled inside me. I didn't know ****if Luke's consciousness was even still alive inside that body. Maybe, ****the way his voice had changed . . . or maybe it was just Kronos ****adapting to his new form. I told myself it didn't matter. Luke had ****been twisted and evil long before Kronos possessed him. ****A voice in my head said: I have to fight him eventually. Why not ****now? ****According to that big prophecy, I was suppose to make a choice ****that saved or destroyed the world when I was sixteen. That was only ****seven days away. Why not now? If I really had the power, what difference would a week make? I could end this threat right here by ****taking down Kronos. Hey, I'd fought monsters and gods before. ****As if reading my thoughts, Luke smiled. No, he was Kronos. I ****had to remember that.**

**"Come forward," he said. "If you dare." ****The crowd of monsters parted. I moved up the stairs, my heart ****pounding. I was sure somebody would stab me in the back, but they ****let me pass. I felt my pocket and found my pen waiting. I uncapped ****it, and Riptide grew into a sword.**

"Wicked!" Leo shouted, and Percy grinned at the son of Hephaestus.

"That's incredible!" Piper said. Percy took his pen out of his pocket.

"And it always comes back, too." he said, twirling it around his fingers until Annabeth took it away from him.

**Krono's weapon appeared in his hands- a six-foot-long scythe, a ****half Celestial bronze, half mortal steel. Just looking at it made my ****knees turn to Jell-O. But before I could change my mind, I charged. ****Time slowed down. I mean literally slowed down, because**

**Kronos had that power. I felt like I was moving through syrup. My ****arms were so heavy, I could barely raise my sword. Kronos smiled,**

**swirling his scythe at normal speed and waiting for me to creep ****toward my death. ****I tried to fight his magic. I concentrated on the sea around me the ****source of my power. I'd gotten better at channeling it over the ****year, but now nothing seemed to happen. ****I took another slow step forward. Giants jeered Dracaenae ****hissed with laughter. ****Hey, ocean, I pleaded. Any day would be good. ****Suddenly there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boat ****lurched sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousand ****gallons of salt water surged out of the swimming pool, dousing me ****and Kronos and everyone on the deck. The water revitalized me, ****breaking the time spell, and I lunged forward. ****I struck at Kronos, but I was still too slow. I made the mistake ****of looking at his face-Luke's face-a guy who was once my friend. As ****much as I hated him, it was hard to kill had no such hesitation. He sliced downward with his ****scythe. I leaped back, and the evil blade missed by an inch, cutting a ****gash in the deck right between my feet. ****I kicked Kronos in the chest. He stumbled backward, but he ****was heavier than Luke should've been. It was like kicking a ****refrigerator. ****Kronos swung his scythe again. I intercepted with Riptide, but ****his strike was so powerful, my blade could only deflect it. The edge ****of the scythe shaved off my shirtsleeve and grazed my arm. It ****shouldn't have been a serious cut, but the entire side of my body ****exploded with pain. **

"Oh gods." Annabeth moaned, putting her face in her hands. Percy put his arms around her tightly.

"I'm right here." he whispered comfortingly.

**I remembered what a sea demon had once said ****about Kronos's scythe: Careful, fool. One touch, and the blade will ****sever your soul from your body. Now I understood what he meant. I ****wasn't just losing blood. I could feel my strength, my will, my ****identity draining away. ****I stumbled backward, switched my sword to my left hand, and ****lunged desperately. My blade should've run him through, but it ****deflected off his stomach like I was hitting solid marble. There was ****no way he should've survived that. **

**Kronos laughed. "A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Luke ****tells me you were never his match at swordplay." ****My vision started to blur. I knew I didn't have much time.**

**"Luke had a big head," I said. "But at least it was his head."**

**"A shame to kill you now," Kronos mused, "before the final ****plan unfolds. I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you ****realize how I will destroy Olympus." **

**"You'll never get this boat to Manhattan." My arm was ****throbbing. Black spots danced in my vision.**

**"And why would that be?" Kronos's golden eyes glittered. His face-Luke's face-seemed like a mask, unnatural and lit from behind ****by some evil power. "Perhaps you are counting on your friend with ****the explosives?"**

**He looked down at the pool and called, "Nakamura!" ****A teenage guy in full Greek armor pushed through the crowd. ****His left eye was covered with a black patch. I knew him, of course: ****Ethan Nakamura, the son of Nemesis. I'd saved his life in the ****Labyrinth last summer, and in return, the little punk had helped ****Kronos come back to life.**

**"Success, my lord," Ethan called. "We found him just as we ****were told."**

**He clapped his hands, and two giants lumbered forward, ****dragging Charles Beckendorf between them. My heart almost ****stopped. Beckendorf had a swollen eye and cuts all over his face and ****arms. His armor was gone and his shirt was nearly torn off.**

**"No!" I yelled. ****Beckendorf met my eyes. He glanced at his hand like he was ****trying to tell me something. His watch. They hadn't taken it yet, and ****that was the detonator. Was it possible the explosives were armed? ****Surely the monsters would've dismantled them right away.**

Here, Hazel stopped with a gasp, and looked up sharply at the Greeks. She suddenly remembered seeing a ghost who looked like this teen in the Underworld, passing the Fields of Asphodel. Percy understood what she meant, and nodded sadly. She put the book down, and stood, walking over to the Greek side, and pulling her friend into a hug.

"Thanks, Hazel." Percy said quietly, and Hazel gave him a small smile, then looked at Leo. She then gave him a hug as well.

"I'm so sorry." she whispered, and Leo, surprised, hugged her back.

"Thank you." he replied, and Hazel walked back to her seat, and picked up the book once more.

**"We found him amidships," one of the giants said, "trying to ****sneak to the engine room. Can we eat him now?"**

**"Soon." Kronos scowled at Ethan. "Are you sure he didn't set ****the explosives?"**

**"He was going toward the engine room, my lord."**

**"How do you know that?"**

**"Er . . ." Ethan shifted uncomfortably. "He was heading in that ****direction. And he told us. His bag is still full of explosives."Slowly, I began to understand. Beckendorf had fooled them. ****When he'd realized he was going to be captured, he turned to make it ****look like he was going the other way. He'd convinced them he hadn't ****made it to the engine room yet. The Greek fire might still be primed! ****But that didn't do us any good unless we could get off the ship and ****detonate it. ****Kronos hesitated. ****Buy the story, I prayed. The pain in my arm was so bad now I ****could barely stand.**

**"Open his bag," Kronos ordered. ****One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel from ****Beckendorf's shoulders. He peered inside, grunted, and turned it ****upside down. Panicked monsters surged backward. If the bag really ****had been full of Greek fire jars, we would've all blown up. But what ****fell out were a dozen cans of peaches. ****I could hear Kronos breathing, trying to control his anger.**

**"Did you, perhaps," he said, "capture this demigod near the ****galley?"**

**Ethan turned pale. "Um-"**

**"And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THE ****ENGINE ROOM?"**

**Ethan scrambled back in terror, then turned on his heels and ****ran. ****I cursed silently. Now we had only minutes before the bombs ****were disarmed. I caught Beckendorf's eyes again and asked a silent ****question, hoping he would understand: How long? ****He cupped his fingers and thumb, making a circle. Zero. There ****was no delay on the timer at all. If he managed to press the detonator button, the ship would blow at once. We'd never be able to get far ****enough away before using it. The monsters would kill us first, or ****disarm the explosives, or both. **

**Kronos turned toward me with a crooked smile. "You'll have to ****excuse my incompetent help, Percy Jackson. But it doesn't matter. ****We have you now. We've known you were coming for weeks." ****He held out his hand and dangled a little silver bracelet with a ****scythe charm-the Titan lord's symbol.**

**The wound in my arm was sapping my ability to think, but I ****muttered, "Communication device . . . spy at camp."**

Clarisse looked down, along with those of the Greeks who knew what had happened to the spy.

**Kronos chuckled. "You can't count on friends. They will always ****let you down. Luke learned that lesson the hard way. Now drop your ****sword and surrender to me, or your friend dies." ****I swallowed. One of the giants had his hand around ****Beckendorf's neck. I was in no shape to rescue him, and even if I ****tried, he would die before I got there. We both would. ****Beckendorf mouthed one word: Go. ****I shook my head. I couldn't just leave him. ****The second giant was still rummaging through the peach cans, ****which meant Beckendorf's left arm was free. He raised it slowly toward ****the watch on his right wrist. ****I wanted to scream, NO!**

**Then down by the swimming pool, one of the dracaenae hissed, ****"What isss he doing? What isss that on hisss wrissst?"**

**Beckendorf closed eyes tight and brought his hand up to his ****watch. ****I had no choice. I threw my sword like a javelin at Kronos. It bounced harmlessly off his chest, but it did startle him. I pushed ****through a crowd of monsters and jumped off the side of the ship toward ****the water a hundred feet below. ****I heard rumbling deep in the ship. Monsters yelled at me from**

**above. A spear sailed past my ear. An arrow pierced my thigh, but I ****barely had time to register the pain. I plunged into the sea and willed ****the currents to take me far, far away-a hundred yards, two hundred ****yards. ****Even from that distance, the explosion shook the world. Heat ****seared the back of my head. The Princess Andromeda blew up from ****both sides, a massive fireball of green flame roiling into the dark sky, ****consuming everything. ****Beckendorf, I thought. ****Then I blacked out and sank like an anchor toward the bottom ****of the sea.**

Hazel marked the chapter, and closed the book, and let the words sink in. Annabeth was crying in Percy's embrace again, and Thalia was being hugged by Nico, while Grover and Rachel comforted their friends. The other Greeks either had tears in their eyes, or were full out crying. Leo seemed to be in shock, knowing what had happened to his half-brother.

"What a hero." Reyna said, stopping the silence. Percy smiled at her, along with Annabeth.

"He was probably one of the greatest demigods I've ever known." Annabeth said softly. Percy kissed the top of her head.

"Who wants to read next?" Hazel asked after a moment, holding the book up.

**So sorry for the wait!**

**Please review!**

**Until next time, my demigods!**

**Love,**

**Enchantress**


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